An American Portrait of Thomas McKenney, 19th Century Thomas L. McKenney (1785-1859) circa 1826 oil on canvas, in period gilt frame 29 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches. Thomas McKenney served as US Superintendant of Indian Affairs between 1824 and 1830 and wrote a History of the Indian Tribes if North America, With Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs . A nearly identical portrait, if not this very portrait, is pictured in Thomas L. McKenney: Architect of America's Early Indian Policy , by Herman Viola.